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Oscar Isaac's role is one thing; the cat strapped to the chest another

To play the title character for "Inside Llewyn Davis," Oscar Isaac not only had to undergo weeks of musical training to sound like a '60s folkie but he also had to figure out how to turn the bad-luck magnet into a sympathetic figure.

All of that was a piece of cake compared to a long sequence that called for Llewyn to tote a cat around New York. While cats are notoriously tricky to train, what really unnerved Isaac was that when he was younger, he had a less than purr-fect relationship with his kitty.

"My cat bit me one night and the next morning, I woke up with a red line inching up my arm," he recalls. "The infection entered my lymphatic system and I spent two days in the hospital getting pumped full of antibiotics. I had to get tetanus shots, all sorts of stuff."

Four years later, on the set of "Llewyn Davis," Isaac was introduced to five lookalike orange tabbys cast as his furry co-star Ulysses.

"It was a little daunting when they said, 'And here's the cat which is going to be strapped to you with a wire as you run as fast as you can to catch a subway train.' Amazingly, I only got a few scratches around my face and neck."

After years of playing supporting roles in movies like "W.E.," "Robin Hood" and "Sucker Punch," Isaac has graduated to leading man status with "Llewyn Davis."

He's been named Rolling Stone's "Hot Actor" and has been garnering rave reviews for the film.

Written and directed by the Coen Brothers, "Inside Llewyn Davis" is loosely based on the hard-luck life of folkie Dave Von Ronk, a major influence on Bob Dylan. Like Von Ronk, Llewyn Davis is a talented musician who can't catch a break.

Nothing seems to work out for Llewyn, including his affair with the lover (Carey Mulligan) of a fellow musician (Justin Timberlake). John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund and Adam Driver also co-star in the movie, which opened in New York Friday and is expected to expand to more screens Dec. 22.

Isaac steeped himself in the music of the early folk era. His guide was famed soundtrack coordinator T-Bone Burnett, who also masterminded the music in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" for the Coens.

The actor also poured over Von Ronk's autobiography "Mayor of MacDougal Street" as well Dylan's "Chronicles" memoir, pondering the razor-thin line between success and failure.

"At every turn, nothing seems to go in his favor … It doesn't really matter what he does, in many ways. He could be the nicest guy in the world but Dylan is coming and he's not Dylan and Dylan is about to change everything."

Isaac, by contrast, has always been able to support himself, almost from the first day he graduated from the Juilliard School in 2005.

Born in Guatemala to a Guatemalan mother and a Cuban physician father, Isaac was raised in Miami. At one time, he imagined he'd pursue a career in music. He and his punk band The Blinking Underdogs were successful enough to open for Green Day once.

But acting came easier for Isaac.

"I was in New York and I remember passing by Julliard and, on a whim, I said, 'I'm going to apply to this place,' " says the actor.

He played Carey Mulligan's thug husband in "Drive" and Kate Mara's could-be boyfriend in "10 Years." And he loved working for the Coens.

"Every actor in Hollywood wants to work with the Coens because you come out looking like a diamond," says Isaac. "The Coens set the stage for actors to do their best work."